Adapting and Applying the Phenice (1969) Adult Morphological Sex Estimation Technique to Subadults

This research evaluated whether adult morphological sex estimation methods of the innominate could be adapted and applied to subadults. The subpubic concavity, described by Phenice (1969) and revised by Klales et al. (2012), was modified for use with subadults. Two observers scored radiographic images from the PATRICIA database of 334 individuals of both sexes aged between 1.19 and 20.47 years. Score frequencies shifted from score 2 (straight) to higher frequencies of score 3 (convexity) in males and score 1 (concavity) in females with increasing age. Using ordinal logistic regression, sex classification was highest for the oldest age cohort at 97.2% and then decreased by age cohort. Interobserver error rendered a high level of agreement (0.806) using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Results indicate that the Klales method can be modified and applied to subadults to accurately estimate sex following the onset of puberty with a high degree of reliability and validity.     

Photo‐Realistic Statistical Skull Morphotypes: New Exemplars for Ancestry and Sex Estimation in Forensic Anthropology

Graphic exemplars of cranial sex and ancestry are essential to forensic anthropology for standardizing casework, training analysts, and communicating group trends. To date, graphic exemplars have comprised hand‐drawn sketches, or photographs of individual specimens, which risks bias/subjectivity. Here, we performed quantitative analysis of photographic data to generate new photo‐realistic and objective exemplars of skull form. Standardized anterior and left lateral photographs of skulls for each sex were analyzed in the computer graphics program Psychomorph for the following groups: South African Blacks, South African Whites, American Blacks, American Whites, and Japanese. The average cranial form was calculated for each photographic view, before the color information for every individual was warped to the average form and combined to produce statistical averages. These mathematically derived exemplars—and their statistical exaggerations or extremes—retain the high‐resolution detail of the original photographic dataset, making them the ideal casework and training reference standards.     

Recognising Family Diversity: the ‘Boundaries’ of <Emphasis Type="Italic">RE G</Emphasis>

In Re G, the Court of Appeal awarded a joint residence order to the appellant, who was the lesbian ex-partner of the child’s full biological mother. The award also indirectly vested the appellant, a social parent, with parental responsibility and extended a body of case law to same-sex couples, which had until now only been applied to heterosexual couples. The initial purpose of this note is to outline the legal issues of the case in the context of the framework of parental responsibility set out in the Children Act 1989, putting forward a test of ‘parental fitness’ (which focuses on active ‘care’ as its central consideration) for social parents who must appeal to the court’s discretion to obtain parental responsibility. Secondly, the note offers at once a positive reading of Re G while highlighting a number of reservations centring upon continued legal preference for the ‘sexual family’. It is argued that while the legal recognition of ‘family diversity’ and parenthood remains modelled on this ‘sexual family’, the relaxation of family ‘boundaries’ (despite legal victories such as Re G) will remain limited. Re G (Children) [2005] E.W.C.A. (Civ.) 462     

DNA指纹数据库法律问题初探--美国的纷争和启示

分子生物学科技发展起来后,美国开始建立DNA指纹数据库,以提高辨别罪犯的效率和准确率.然而,这一做法却引起了广泛争议,主要围绕着强制采集DNA样本是否构成"不合理的搜查和扣押",利用DNA样本进行科学研究是否违反了"知情同意"的人体实验伦理原则,以及保存DNA样本是否会侵犯个人隐私这三个方面展开.这些纷争对我们的启示是:既要合理地利用科学技术,又要加强法制,保护公民的合法权利,防止科学技术的负面影响.     

Morphological Assessment of Ancestry using Cranial Macromorphoscopics,

Ancestry estimation is essential for biological profile estimation in forensic anthropology. Hefner (2009) and Osteoware (Smithsonian Institution, 2011) presented 16 macromorphoscopic traits that can be scored for standardized data collection and can also be used within a statistical framework to estimate ancestry. The primary purpose of this research was to examine the utility of these traits for assessing ancestry. Tests of observer agreement and the range of variation in trait expression were evaluated. A sample of 208 American whites and blacks from the Hamann–Todd Collection were scored, and several classification methods were utilized in accordance with Hefner (2009). Correct classifications for the pooled sex analyses ranged from 73.3% to 86.6% and from 46.7% to 64.3% when the sexes were analyzed independently. Interobserver agreement was variable and was found to be lower than that presented in Hefner (2009). Trait expression was variable in both groups and was generally consistent with Hefner's findings.     

免疫磁珠法与差异裂解法检验混合样本的效果观察

目的分析应用免疫磁珠分离技术和差异裂解法对混合样本的DNA检验效果,评价其在法医学应用中的价值。方法制备含有不同数量精细胞与阴道上皮细胞混合悬液和植绒混合斑拭子,分别采用MOSPD3抗体、SPAG8抗体免疫磁珠法及差异裂解法对样本进行检验,观察分析不同比例的混合细胞悬液,以及不同保存时间植绒混合斑拭子DNA分型的正确率。结果当混合细胞悬液内精细胞与阴道上皮细胞比例约1∶10时,免疫磁珠法的正确率明显高于差异裂解法(P0.01);当比例等于或高于1∶1时,两种方法正确率的差异无显著性意义(P0.05)。植绒拭子混合斑的免疫磁珠法正确率明显低于差异裂解法(P0.01);随混合斑保存时间的延长,差异裂解法正确率无明显下降(P0.05)。结论免疫磁珠法适用于新鲜混合样本中精细胞的分离检验,且在精细胞含量较低时优势更明显,差异裂解法较适合陈旧混合斑的分离检验。     

中国汉族人群46个Y-STR基因座多态性与突变调查

目的调查分析46个Y-STR基因座在中国汉族人群中的遗传多态性与突变情况。方法收集中国汉族人群1 008名无关男性个体、1 124对父子共2 165份男性血样。采用Yfiler PlusTM、AGCU Y-24、GFS 24Y 3种复合扩增试剂盒进行46个Y-STR基因座分型,统计各基因座群体遗传学参数与突变情况。结果 1 008名中国汉族无关男性个体,共检出1 001种单倍型,其中994种仅出现1次,总体单倍型多样性值(HD)和识别能力(DC)分别为0.999 986和0.993 1。46个基因座共检出548个等位基因,基因多样性值(GD)在0.432 0~0.953 2之间,37个基因座GD值大于0.6。1 124对父子共检测出51 739次等位基因传递,193对父子41个基因座共观察到214次突变,平均突变率为4.1×10-3(95%CI 3.6~4.7×10-3)。其中一步突变209次(97.7%),两步突变5次(2.3%);175对仅1个基因座发生突变(90.7%)。结论本文46个Y-STR基因座中大多数在中国汉族人群中具有较高的遗传多态性,适合法医学应用,高突变率基因座在Y-STR数据库家系查询与父系鉴定应用中应予以关注。     

法医学混合斑研究进展

混合斑是性侵案件中常见生物检材,对其分析结果的解释是法医学检验中的难点之一。混合斑的种类较多,多个个体或多种体液、分泌液形成混合斑的提取、分离方法比较复杂。目前,法医学用于对混合斑量化评估主要应用杂合型均衡比和混合比例两个参数,而其分析受多种因素的影响。分析常用的遗传标记包括:常染色体和Y染色体STR,SNP,mt DNA,INDEls等。统计分析方法主要有似然率法(LR)以及随机男子不能被排除率法(RMNE)。混合斑分析软件的出现,有助于对检验结果的分析和判断。本文对相关文献进行综述,意在为混合斑的研究和鉴定提供参考和借鉴。     

Breaking The Cycle Of Intergenerational Child Maltreatment: A Case For Active Efforts For Dependent Minor Parents And Their Children In State Custody

Dependent minor parents placed in foster care with their children often face significant hurdles. These parents are responsible to make caregiving decisions for their children, while they themselves fall under the caregiving responsibility of the state child welfare system. As such, dependent minor parents live in a “twilight zone” – they hold full parental rights, but limited rights as teenagers. For a number of reasons, the children of minor parents in foster care often come into state custody. When two generations are in foster care at the same time, states must balance the safety and best interests of the children with the rights of minor parents to care for their own children. Currently, the state child welfare system is only required to provide “reasonable efforts” to reunify parents with children when they have been removed from their care for abuse, neglect, or dependency. However, dependent minor parents in state custody often require more supportive services in order to successfully reunify with their children than in a typical child welfare case. This article places the circumstance just described in the context of dependent minor parents’ constitutionally protected rights, and advocates for a higher standard which would require states to provide “active efforts” to protect and preserve these young families.     

3种骨骼DNA提取方法的应用效果比较

目的对3种方法提取骨骼DNA的效果进行比较,为实际应用中选择方法提供参考。方法应用骨骼孵化液法、DNA Investigator试剂盒法和CTAB法对同一骨骼样本进行脱钙、消化、提取DNA,用紫外分光光度计检测DNA的浓度值;使用Identifilerplus试剂盒进行PCR扩增,3130xl型遗传分析仪检测分型,并用SPSS 19.0软件对各项实验结果进行统计分析。结果 1g骨粉样本经上述3种方法提取,得到的DNA浓度分别为26.53ng/μL±5.47ng/μL、23.63ng/μL±4.56ng/μL、14.93ng/μL±3.88ng/μL;单因素方差分析表明3组数据之间差异性具有统计学意义。PCR扩增后电泳检测结果显示,骨骼孵化液法和DNA Investigator试剂盒法基因座检出率和峰值大致相同,均优于CTAB法。结论本文比较的3种方法均可用于骨骼样本的实际检案,检出率较高的两种方法可作为优选方案。